1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems for feeding and raising livestock and in particular for feeding and raising poultry or the like confined in cage batteries.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,536,621 [Arnold] and No. 3,158,137 [Summerour] are generally representative of the type of prior art to which the system of the present invention appertains. Both the Arnold and the Summerour patents disclose poultry feeding systems in which feed is dispensed from mobile hoppers supported above cage batteries for movement therealong, into feed troughs supported along one or more walls of the cage batteries. The feed dispensing hoppers of the Arnold patent comprising dispensing ports formed in the bottom of the hoppers with spring biased slide valves. It appears that the rate and accuracy at which feed may be dispensed by the Arnold system would be or could be difficult to control and maintain because of the structural details discussed above.
In the Summerour patent, the feed hoppers include metering devices which apparently would be more accurate and easier to control than the Arnold system insofar as accuracy and rate of dispensing is concerned. The Summerour feeding system, however, lacks numerous advantageous features of the present invention, which may be apparent from the following description and claims.